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Russellistrying
2,680
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5 star rating
Rating
Number of ratings3 Number of reviews3 Listens toOver 18 LanguagesEnglish Listener sinceFeb 25, 2019 Last activeover 6 months ago GenderMale PathStep 56 People helped11 Chats33 Group support chats2 Listener group chats2 Forum posts93 Forum upvotes140
Bio
Male, 48 in California, US.
Mental illness is present in both sides of my family. I live with Major Depressive Disorder-treatment refractory and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, symptoms of both disorders are in remission.

I'm bringing first-hand knowledge of mental illness challenges to discussions: stigma, remission-recovery-relapse cycle, isolation, coping strategies, problem behaviors, treatments and more.

Therapy education and classwork: CBT, DBT, ACT, Depression, Anxiety, Mindfulness

Pro-science, pro-psychiatry.
Recent forum posts
Russellistrying profile picture
I have treatment resistant Major Depressive Disorder and Ketamine treatments have helped me recover. AMA.
Depression Support / by Russellistrying
Last post
 July 4th, 2020
...See more Major Depressive Disorder is a serious, debilitating, life-threatening illness that is a leading cause of disability in the world. An estimated 1/3 of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients are classified with treatment resistant depression (TRD) - their symptoms do not respond to standard medications for depression. Myself and other MDD-TRD patients must turn to the frontier of psychiatric care in search of symptom relief. Ketamine works differently than conventional antidepressants, affecting the glutamate system and it works rapidly; patients who respond show improvement in 24 hours to a week. Ketamine is not approved by the FDA or the EMA as a treatment for depression (in recent news esketamine (Spravato), which is half the Ketamine molecule, has been approved by the FDA). Ketamine was not my first-run or second or third medication, my symptoms didn't respond to 9 different antidepressants in 5 different categories. Ketamine is not a magic bullet but combined with psychotherapy and cognitive therapies plus a lot of work on myself, my symptoms have been in remission now for over 8 months. Please ask me whatever questions you like.
Russellistrying profile picture
Greetings, all.
Depression Support / by Russellistrying
Last post
 March 14th, 2019
...See more I'm Russell and I live with treatment-resistant Major Depressive Disorder and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I've struggled with mental illness most of my life, I take medicine and receive therapy to treat it. I've been through a lot of experiences - triumphs and setbacks, remission, recovery, replapse. If you have treatment resistant/refractory depression or if you have general questions about depression and related conditions, feel free to shoot me a message. So glad to meet you all!
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Incredibly supportive, makes sure everything is resolved, all around a great listener!
Nice and helpful
Really helpful. Seriously
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Depression
Managing Emotions
Anxiety
General Mental Health
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